I have always produced some sort of cartoon/comic ever since I was a kid. Huge rambling football matches and Cold War epics were the main themes. They were just something I wanted to do - as opposed to actually showing anybody.

Fast forward a few years to adult(ish) me and the realisation that other people might want to see my work. I like to produce the best I can and have worked quite hard at improving. They take seconds to read and yet hours to produce.

So...why does it rankle so much when people close to you have the reaction " are you still doing your little cartoons " or " er,,,that's nice"

I have always had a mixed bag of responses. I have found that as I've stuck to it and really improved both my writing and my art, even my worst detractors have started giving me compliments. It's take 12 years of relentlessly publishing, though. Still haven't "made it" yet, either.

Something frustrating that I've experienced a lot in the latter half of my comic's career is people who compliment my work and even say it's brilliant still aren't very supportive of it. It can be really hard to break that barrier. Probably so hard that most people don't.

On the other hand, it can be good if your fans are not your family and friends. It might mean that your potential reader base is larger than a handful of people...

My family has always been very supportive of my comics work, but it rankles me when people assume that comics = kid stuff. The most common response to my saying, "I am a comic artist" is, "you can't do that for a living" (even though I have,) or "do you do children's books?" When I tell these types, "no," and show them my books, they tend to have a rather rude awakening. I guess no one expects a smiley gray-haired lady to do depressingly violent comics about the fall of the Soviet Union that sometimes teeter dangerously close on the edge of what some people consider pornography. Usually at this point, people hush up about their annoying assumptions._________________

Yes, the USA seems to have permanently pigeon-holed comics into "kid's stuff" - I'd like to see a historical study of this, because I'm sure it's for some stupid and shallow reason..._________________Ed Womack

I don't think America has pigeon-holed it into 'kids stuff'. If anything, I think they've pigeon-holed it into the 'nerd' hole along with video games, D&D, sci-fi/fantasy movies and bad inter-personal communication skills.

I don't think America has pigeon-holed it into 'kids stuff'. If anything, I think they've pigeon-holed it into the 'nerd' hole along with video games, D&D, sci-fi/fantasy movies and bad inter-personal communication skills.

Yes, same concept different words. Depending on one's perspective, if you read comics or consume fantasy/sci-fi, some people will consider you a "nerd" and others will consider you "immature," meaning that you spend your time with things that some people think only kids should bother with. It's shallow either way._________________Ed Womack

It took three and a half years for the vast majority of my coworkers to find out that I do art in my spare time. My mom talks about what a great writer I am but hasn't actually read more than like, the first couple chapters of my comic and nothing more recent than that.